Rude Boy
by Iuras
Summary: mucking around wiv ideas in my heid. short drabble. movie: Sweet Sixteen. character: Liam.


Rude Boy

I don't know how long I had been laying there in the woods. It was a shite day. The sky was grey, the wind was howling and drops of rain spattered across my bare chest. Leaves crunched next to me but I didn't bother turning my head. My eyes stayed on the sky. Whoever was approaching wasn't dangerous, or if they were I didn't sense it. The crunching stopped and something jabbed my ribcage. A dull pain was left in it's wake. My concentration broke and I turned to face the culprit.

"Hey, mister, what're ye doin'?" a boy of about ten asked. He was bundled up in a dark felt coat two sizes too big for him, but at least he was warm. He kept a firm grip on a stick. I squinted up at him for a moment before responding.

"Lyin' 'ere," I said and focused back on the sky. The boy furrowed his brow but didn't move.

"Is that blood 'round yor mouth?"

I ran my tongue along the side of my mouth. The iron-like flavour that filled my mouth confirmed that, yes, it was blood and it was my own.

"Aye," I said and closed my eyes. I figured the boy would bugger off if I pretended to sleep. But I didn't hear him retreat and I still felt him standing over me.

"Yor not a vampire are ye?"

I stifled a laugh and opened an eye. The boy studied my face as he poised his stick over my chest.

"Last I check'd, vampires came out at night," I stated. He looked puzzled for a moment and then lowered his stick. I didn't wait for him to speak.

"Right. Now, piss off."

"No need ta be an arsehole 'bout it," the boy spat and brought the stick down across my stomach. At that moment I was reminded why I hated kids. I flinched and half-cocked myself up to brace my stomach.

"Mind yer tongue, boy," I said through clenched teeth. The boy didn't hear me. He was off running seconds after he hit me. I used the back of my hand to wipe the blood away from my mouth and sat all the way up. The rain started to come down harder. I had no idea where I was or where my mate, Rab, could be.

I cursed and stood up. My back was slick with mud and my hair clung to my scalp like a leech. A shock ran through my forehead and I raised a hand to it. There was a lump on it and gashes on one arm. The gashes were the outcome of encountering a guard dog hours earlier and the source of the lump I wasn't so sure about.

There was not much of the night I remembered and the bits I did weren't very pleasant. I just hoped Rab woke to a better situation than I did. I gazed up at the unforgiving clouds before I headed off in the direction the boy ran. He had taken a dirt path and I could only pray that it led to civilisation.

Black birds cried down at me from the trees but I did not answer them. Only then did my current state begin to embarrass me. This wasn't the first time I had found myself in this kind of a situation. I was only glad that I hadn't woken up covered in piss and vomit.

Well, I may have been covered in piss, it was hard to tell with the rain soaking my trousers. The path before me cleared and I was confronted by a street. I still didn't recognise where I was but there was a bus stop ahead.

"Fuckin' hell," I said aloud. The stop would have been empty, if it weren't for one person waiting, the boy. He stiffened up when he saw me but I didn't even glance at him when I approached. I stood as far away as I could from him. He was silent for a few moments until it seemed like he couldn't contain it any longer and then he burst.

"Why was ther blood 'round yor mouth?" he shouted over to me. I could have ignored him or told him something different but, for some reason, I didn't. He was just a scraggly boy in an oversized coat with a dirty face. In him I saw myself and I was more honest to him than I had been to anyone in a long time.

"My mate an I took drugs las night. An I'm no shur what exactly happened but a dog attacked me arm an I tried to stop the bleedin' by suckin on it," I said, just loud enough for him to hear. I guess I was mad for telling him, but he didn't seem to mind. My response piqued his interest. He glanced around and stepped closer to me. A red flag would have raised on any passerby if they saw me talking to the boy in my current state. I was a soaking wet, shirtless bloodied up and wild-eyed 25 year old. They probably would have thought I was a junkie and they would be right for assuming so.


End file.
